The Fantastic Four’s arrival in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been officially announced.
As part of Disney’s Investor day announcements, which saw the unveiling of 20 new MCU and Star Wars shows, it was revealed that the superhero quartet’s standalone film is now in development.
The untitled release will be directed by Jon Watts, the man behind the MCU’s Spider-Man trilogy, the next chapter of which will be released in December 2021.
Studio president Kevin Feige first teased the Fantastic Four’s introduction at Comic-Con in July 2019.
Since then, theories about their arrival have been flooding in, with many believing that characters, including Mister Fantastic and Susan Storm, will pop up in other Marvel films before their own.
Some think that the Fantastic Four’s arrival could be heralded by Ant-Man 3, which will feature the villainous Kang the Conqueror.
Lovecraft Country actor Jonathan Majors was recently reported to be playing the character, who is expected to be the MCU’s next Thanos-style villain.
Considering Kang is a character who primarily featured in the Fantastic Four comic books, he will no doubt be pivotal in introducing the new additions.
According to trusted Marvel source Roger Wardell, “MCU’s Fantastic Four will be primarily based on their Earth-1610 counterparts”.
If true, this means they would be introduced as part of the multiverse – a set of different worlds featuring an array of Marvel characters, dead and alive.
It would be a convenient way of explaining their absence from the series so far.
Another clue about their arrival could come from a potential title for Black Panther 2.
It was reported that the sequel, which won’t recast the late Chadwick Boseman, could be subtitled Doomwar, which is a comic book plot line that sees the villain Doctor Doom attempting to overthrow T’Challa’s family to become the ruler of Wakanda.
Doctor Doom is a character known for his appearance in the Fantastic Four series.
Next on the Marvel agenda will be the delayed Black Widow followed by Eternals, which was shifted to 2021 due to the pandemic.
Marvel’s first Disney+ TV show, WandaVision, will arrive in January, closely followed by The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
Find a full list of every Star Wars, Marvel and Pixar TV show Disney+ has just announced that will be released over the next two years here.
